Interviews

Hello,  I tried to be an overachiever in this assignment. I was so excited to try to use technology that I did both a video and a podcast.  However, it was a challenge. I am not an expert editor nor did I like the l-o-n-g editing process. So, as you listen please excuse a few of the hiccup you might hear or see. This was my first attempt at doing this.

I am sure that if I do use this technology for any of my classes, I will not worry about having a 5 minutes maximum criteria.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the two instructors that I have interviewed to talk about technology.

1). The first is a video interview with Dr. RoyceAnn Collins. Dr. Collins is a professor at K-State University, as many of you may know. She is gracious and kind and very receptive to using technology in her classes. This interview was done with a really cool and small video camera. I owe a huge thanks to Chad Roberts for helping me charge the battery.




2). The second interview was with Dr. Pam Arlund, aka "Dr. Amazing" (my personal nick name for her). She is the Director of Training for All Nations Family, Inc. which is a foreign missionary board.  Pam is one of the most technologically savvy people, I know. She has an IPhone, IPad, Mac and I don't even know what else. She is super smart and incredibly humble. I truly admire and respect her lifestyle and dedication to teaching people. This was done as an audio file recording and edited in audacity.

Notes about instructors

You will notice that they both like technology and would chose to use it. But, their educational purposes are very different. Dr. Collins teaches in academia and uses technology for more student centered learning activities. Dr. Arlund teaches in short term practical classes where technology is an extra boost to the content centered learning activities.

Notes about process 

This project was a major process. I edited the interview for hours and hours in audacity. I finally got it to under 5 mins. But, then when I went to upload to YouTube the format was not accepted. I tried to export it and I downloaded a bunch of stuff such as an audio converter but I still couldn't get to work. I got lots of junk programs, like funmood (??) as my browser, on my computer that came with trying to download the needed program to convert the audacity file.  So, I had to uninstall a bunch of programs. Then I email for help.

Thank you, Dr. K. for helping me. You are GREAT, the YouTube video link was just what I needed to figure out how to solve the problem. 

I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE SUCCESS WITH THIS ASSIGNMENT!!

So, what have I learned? Here is a list of things I have learned in this assignment:

• Videos are not as hard as I thought they were. I found editing the video was faster and easier than editing the audio in audacity.  I think I could do some kind of video for teaching purposes.
• YouTube is not to be feared or avoided. I always thought YouTube was just for cute, funny video you want to add to serious content. Now, I think I will explore its contents more. It was great helping in learning how to do the audio to the podcast. 
• Next time there is a problem, search for solution on YouTube. :)

Pod, Aud, & Vid

Greetings, friends. I have a busy busy week so no chit-chat this week.

 

This week assignment is to write about the "Pros and Cons of using Audio/Video/Podcasts for Adult Learner".  I have enjoyed reading the readings in the King & Cox’s (2011) book “The Professors Guide to Taming Technology”. I especially like the step by step how to start to use podcast, audio and video recordings. I will use this wonderful book of reference in the future. Much of the following summary of Pros and Cons were taken from the King & Cox (2011) book.

The Pros of using Podcasts/Audio/Video in Adult Education that I can see are:

+ current generation has grown up with computers so they are ready and able to use these technologies

+ inexpensive, simple, potable, and global

+ student has control of how much, when, and where to learn

+ can tap various learning styles that are not related to reading such as auditory or hands on learning

+ focuses on student centered learning rather than teacher centered learning

+ fosters collaboration, interactivity and a sense of community

+ increases student enrollment and retention

+ promotes creativity and gives students a voice

The Cons of using Podcasts/Audio/Video in Adult Education that I can see are:

- time consuming. It takes LOTS of time to prepare, edit, and create lessons plans with this technology

- generally used for lecturing (podcast)

- difficult to assess (grade) student’s projects

- difficult to control when on the world wide web (security & plagiarism)

Well, that is all for now. I am looking forward to posting one of these types of technologies next week. I am working on the process.

Reference:

King, K. P., & Cox, T. D. (Eds.). (2011). The Professor's Guide to Taming Technology: Levering Digital Media, Web 2.0, and More for Learning. Charlotte, NC: IAP ( Information Age Publishing, Inc.).